Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO at Ottawa Little Theatre
A fun, quirky, and deeply human musical about growing up amid unusual challenges.
Ottawa Little Theatre’s presentation of Kimberly Akimbo, written by David Lindsay-Abaire, is a fun, quirky, and deeply human musical about growing up amid unusual challenges. Set deep in the suburbs of New Jersey, we meet Kimberly (Sharon Bernbaum), a teenager navigating high school, family chaos, and a first crush while carrying more responsibility than anyone her age should, thanks to a rare disease and a dysfunctional family. Her father, Buddy, (San Van Dusen) is absent-minded and rarely sober, her pregnant mother, Pattie (Katie Torresan), is a hypochondriac and her Aunt Debra (Glenys Marshall), has more skeletons in her closet than Home Depot at Halloween. Surrounded by chaos, Kimberly finds some measure of normalcy in her budding friendship with Jeff (Edgar Toyen), a socially awkward but sincere boy in her class with whom she agrees to help with a school project. Kimberly Akimbo explores themes of resilience, personal growth, and the courage it takes to live the life you want, no matter what the future holds.
Photo by Maria Vartanova.
The set design (Chelsey Prince and Christian Giansante) is humble, but multi-faceted. Some stage cut outs do double duty; for example, the panel housing the kitchen door, sink and cupboards becomes Kim’s bedroom when turns 180 degrees. One particularly effective scene occurs when Buddy comes stumbling home after a night at the pub, and the panels are sharply moved away from him, to make his drunkenness even more apparent.
OLT’s small but talented cast makes Kimberly Akimbo stand-out. The show has unique characters, some of whom seem downright dislikeable at first glance. Kimberly seems to be the glue that keeps the family from falling apart. It is easy to accuse her parents of emotional abuse, but given Kim’s medical condition, you realize that, perhaps, her parents are preemptively trying to cope with the inevitable outcome, which gives the audience a different perspective on the characters. The actors do a phenomenal job with these complexities, aided by great direction from Chelsey Prince.
Personally, I have never really embraced the story of Kimberly Akimbo but, given that the Broadway production won so many Tony awards, I saw the musical version at the Segal Centre in Montreal last year just to see what the fuss was about. Despite strong cast performances, I still wasn’t sold on the script. The Ottawa Little Theatre version has completely changed my mind about the show. In my opinion, this story works so much better as a play, and the creative team at OLT has nailed the mix of humour and drama in its presentation. Even if you think the plot sounds weird, please give OLT’s Kimberly Akimbo a chance. Like me, you may be pleasantly surprised; I would even say that Kimberly Akimbo ranks within the top ten OLT shows I’ve seen.
Kimberly Akimbo is on stage at Ottawa Little Theatre through April 18, 2026. Please note that the play contains adult content and strong language. Tickets may be purchased at the link below or click here for more information.
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